For years, winning a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes promised a life of steady, guaranteed payouts.
But now, that dream has abruptly ended for some winners.
After the 72-year-old company filed for bankruptcy, longtime jackpot winners have stopped receiving their ‘lifetime’ checks — leaving some scrambling to make sense of the sudden loss.
The collapse comes just as Americans are chasing Saturday’s record $1.7billion Powerball jackpot, underscoring the risks behind dreams of ‘money for life.’
Former Publishers Clearing House executives tell the Daily Mail that there are lessons to be learned from the company’s bankruptcy. They also have timely advice for any jackpot winners.
In April, Publishers Clearing House, or PCH, filed for Chapter 11 protection. In its 1990s heyday, it offered prizes ranging from small gift cards to 30 years of weekly $5,000 checks.
Check-carrying employees, called the Prize Patrol, would film themselves surprising Americans who had beaten the game’s one-in-six-million odds for the top prize. But after the bankruptcy, those checks abruptly stopped for ten former winners.
‘This feels like a nightmare,’ John Wyllie, a former jackpot winner who received annual $260,000 checks since 2013, told Oregon-based KGW.
John Wyllie was awarded $5,000 a week ‘forever’ by PCH in 2013
The company has since stopped sending him checks after declaring bankruptcy
Darrell Lester, a former PCH exec, told the Daily Mail he was ‘really sad’ for the customers who will no longer get their money
He was told the checks would keep depositing in his account for 18 more years. He asked: ‘Why didn’t somebody give me a heads up?’
Wyllie, who has been retired since the checks started rolling in, had to sell his jet ski and trailer to make ends meet. He’s struggling to find a job.
And he isn’t alone. Bankruptcy paperwork shows that at least ten other former winners have been cut off from their scheduled checks.
Former executives told the Daily Mail they were sad for the former winners like Wyllie.
‘I’m really, really angry,’ Darrell Lester, who worked as a senior vice president for the company from 1973 through 2003, said. ‘I’m angry at the individual who changed the payout for us several years ago.’
According to Lester, when he worked for PCH, the company secured funds by making long-term investments. The strategy guaranteed that the company always had payments for its winners.
He said the company stopped investing the cash, and when PCH’s debt jumped to about $40 million, the payments to winners stopped. Lester predicts the former winners will never get another check.
But, he said there’s an important lesson for any lottery winners, including the Powerball’s lucky ticket holder, in the company’s bankruptcy: ‘I would never, ever, ever take a 30-year payout.’
Interest in sweepstakes is at a peak now that the Powerball has hit a record $1.7billion
PCH was a cultural touchstone, making guest appearances and spoofs on SNL, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The Brady Bunch
PCH now has new ownership that says it will continue running different sweepstakes games through mobile apps
PCH’s Prize Patrol cameras would show up on unsuspecting winners lawns with balloons, a bouquet of flowers, and a mega-sized check
‘If you win, take the lump sum. If a state or company goes bankrupt, they don’t have to pay the winnings.’
That strategy will make winners pay more in taxes. But, he said, it’s worth paying more to the government and securing the funds immediately.
PCH was also thrust into deep trouble during Lester’s tenure. The company faced regulatory scrutiny in the late 1990s after news outlets pointed out that some customers were struggling with gambling addictions.
Lester said the company had to settle lawsuits, send representatives to speak to nationwide lawmakers, and change the way it handled subscriptions.
‘We thought our crash was bad, but the news today is even worse,’ he said.
In July, an online gaming company, ARB Interactive, bought PCH’s branding out of bankruptcy for $7million.
The company said it will try to revive the brand’s image with a slate of new digital games and products.
According to bankruptcy filings, the decision to cut off cash to former winners was made months before ARB bought the firm.
‘They’ve promised that they will guarantee any future winners that they will get the money,’ Lester said.
‘But they’re not going to go back and pay the $20 to $25million that the prior winners hold. That isn’t their responsibility.’
‘At ARB Interactive, we are committed to restoring and preserving the trust that has defined the Publishers Clearing House (PCH) brand for decades,’ a spokesperson for the buyer told the Daily Mail.
‘Our vision is to rebuild PCH as a brand synonymous with trust, excitement, and long-term integrity, and to ensure that every future winner can have full confidence their prizes will be paid in full, no matter what.’
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